Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 887 12

The blizzard was like thousands of steel knives, scraping wildly on the ridges of the Pamir Plateau. Lin Yuan curled up in the yak-skin tent, his fingers unconsciously stroking the bronze fragments left by his father, and the sharp edges left dark red marks on his palms. Outside the tent, the guide Batur repeatedly reminded in stiff Chinese: "The snow dragon will swallow people tonight, don't go out." But Lin Yuan's thoughts had already drifted back to three months ago. That day, when he was tidying up the attic of the old house, he found a wooden box wrapped in layers of oilcloth. The moment it was opened, a smell of old copper rust hit his face. Inside lay half a bronze fragment engraved with strange symbols and a yellowed sheepskin map. The handwriting on the edge of the map was stained by water stains, and the words "Pamir Plateau? Bronze Secret Treasure" could barely be recognized. The symbols on the bronze fragments were exactly the same as the sketches in the ancient cryptography notes that his father studied before his death. "The last time Professor Lin went into the mountains, he took this half of the fragment with him." Zhou Yan's voice on the other end of the phone was filled with a sigh, "He said he found a discovery that could overturn the archaeological world." As his father's most trusted assistant during his lifetime, Zhou Yan is now a well-known explorer. When he learned that Lin Yuan was going to the Pamir Plateau, he offered to go with him: "I am familiar with the terrain there and can help you." At this moment, a shrill wolf howl suddenly came from outside the tent, interrupting Lin Yuan's memories. Batur suddenly opened the tent curtain, and the wind and snow rolled in ice crystals: "Wolves! They are following the smell of blood!" Lin Yuan grabbed the flashlight and rushed out. The strong light pierced the snow curtain, and dozens of pairs of green eyes flashed a hundred meters away. The wolves surrounded them in a fan shape, and their steps were weirdly neat. "Their fur..." Ayi Na appeared beside him at some point. This woman from the highland tribe was wrapped in a thick Tibetan robe, and her face was painted with grease to protect against the cold. "It's purple, like copper roasted by fire." Lin Yuan then noticed that the wolves' fur glowed with a strange metallic luster under the flashlight, and each wolf had a bronze collar engraved with symbols hanging around its neck - exactly the same as the fragment in his hand. "Go! To the cave in the southwest!" Batur waved his hunting rifle and fired into the sky. The gunshot startled the snow and fog, but the wolves only paused for a moment and then rushed over at a faster speed. Lin Yuan accidentally fell while running, and the bronze fragments slipped from his pocket. Just as a wolf was about to pounce on him, Ayi Na threw out a lasso and wrapped it around the wolf's neck, pulling it aside. The cave was filled with a stench and dampness. Batur used the kerosene lamp he carried with him to illuminate the cave wall, and Lin Yuan's breathing suddenly stopped - the rock wall was densely engraved with bronze symbols, which were exactly the same as the patterns on the fragments. "Their spears are poisoned!" He gritted his teeth and shouted, "Try not to get scratched!" Jack's bullet hit the shield of an aboriginal, but the sparks that burst out accidentally ignited the herbs on the other person's body, and the man instantly turned into a fireman. The shrill screams made everyone pause for a moment. Ava glimpsed in the hail of bullets that whenever the crystal in her arms flickered, the aboriginals' attacks would become more crazy. She suddenly realized that these people were not just looters, but guardians of a certain faith. "They are protecting the holy relics!" She roared and tore open her backpack, throwing out all the spare satellite phones, energy bar wrappers and other reflective items. The colorful metal foils rotated in the firelight, like falling stars, successfully attracting the attention of some aboriginals. The scarred man suddenly raised his hand, and all attacks stopped abruptly. He bent down to pick up a GPS locator, and his distorted face was reflected on the metal surface. Jack took the opportunity to use clumsy body language to make gestures: he put his hands together in front of his chest, pointed to the distance, and then gently placed the golden box on the ground. The other party stared at the symbol on the box, his pupils suddenly contracted, and a long series of chirps came out of his throat, like some kind of ancient ballad. "He said..." Carlos covered his wound, his voice weak but excited, "The crystal in the box is the 'Eye of the Sky', and the gate of the Lost City needs it to resonate with the stars. But we must return it before the full moon night, otherwise..." His translation was interrupted by the sudden sound of a horn. The scarred man held the crystal in his palm and walked towards the depths of the dense forest in the west. The other natives pointed their spears in the same direction. Although the hostility in their eyes had not completely dissipated, they had a little more awe. The three of them panted for a long time in place until the red light of the torch completely disappeared in the depths of the rainforest. When Jack treated Carlos's wound, he found that the poison on the arrow was blue-black and exuded a stench like rotten meat. "This is a mixture of venom from rainforest pit vipers and poison dart frogs," Carlos smiled bitterly, "Fortunately, they only wanted to drive us away, not kill us." As night fell, they camped under a huge banyan tree. Ava wiped the crystal repeatedly and found that the lines on it would show a constellation map under the moonlight. Suddenly, her headlamp swept across the ground, and several huge claw marks were looming in the mud - each footprint was the size of a washbasin, with sharp protrusions on the edge, and some sticky black substance remained between the claw marks. "This is not an animal's footprint." Jack picked up a piece of black mucus with a dagger. Under the light, the mucus squirmed like a living thing, "More like a piece of skin from some creature." Carlos suddenly grabbed his wrist, his pupils dilated with fear: "Legend has it that deep in the rainforest lives 'Uru', a half-human, half-ape guardian, whose skin can secrete venom that corrodes everything..." Before he finished speaking, a deafening roar tore through the night sky. The treetops shook violently, and the moonlight was completely blocked by a huge shadow. Jack looked up and saw a giant ape more than two meters tall hanging upside down on the vines. Its scarlet eyes were like two burning flames, and the hair on its chest was a strange purple color, exactly the same color as the plants on both sides of the river. It opened its bloody mouth, revealing yellow fangs, and saliva dripped onto the ground, instantly corroding a pit with white smoke. "Don't look at each other!" Carlos shouted, "They lock their prey with their eyes!" But it was too late. The ape roared angrily, and its thick arms wrapped around the nearest banyan tree like a giant python. With a strong pull, the whole tree collapsed. Jack instinctively rolled to one side, and the trunk of the tree brushed his back and fell down. In the dust, he saw the ape's nails were as long as daggers, and the ends were shining with metallic luster. Ava raised her pistol and fired continuously, but the bullets were bounced off the ape's skin, which angered the giant. It stood up and screamed piercingly, and the sound waves hurt the eardrums of the three people. Jack noticed that the monkey was wearing a bone necklace around its neck, and the skull in the middle was a human skull. "It's collecting trophies!" he shouted, "We have to find a way..." Before he could finish his words, the monkey had grabbed a huge rock and smashed it towards them. Carlos was quick to pull the two men behind a tree.